Annotated Bibliography

Definitions
Annotation = a concise summary or evaluation of the value or
relevance of a source
Bibliography = an alphabetical list of sources

What is it?
An annotated bibliography is a combination of the two elements above. It provides bibliographic
information on a particular source, plus a paragraph that summarises and evaluates the content of the
source. Depending on the assessment task, your paragraph may vary in length from about 150 words.
Clarify the length with your lecturer.

Why write one?

Depending on the assessment, your purpose for writing an annotated bibliography may be to:
• review the literature of a particular subject;
• demonstrate the quality and depth of reading that you have done;
• show the range of sources available—such as journals, books, web sites and magazine articles;
• highlight sources that may be of interest to other readers and researchers;
• explore and organise sources for further research.
When set as an assignment, an annotated bibliography allows you to become more familiar with
material published on a particular topic. Given that, it is a useful task to undertake to increase your
understanding of a topic.

Structure
An annotated bibliography generally contains five parts:
1. A full citation of the source (using a referencing style relevant to your course, e.g. APA,
Chicago, etc.)
2. A general statement about the author’s purpose for writing the source
3. A short summary of the content
4. An evaluation of the content
5. Your reflection on the usefulness of the source
The table overleaf outlines the parts you need to include in an annotated bibliography. Alongside
each part are suggestions for sentence starters.

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The five parts of an annotated bibliography

PARTS FOR EXAMPLE

CITATION
Griffiths, T. (1996). Hunters and collectors: The
Citation information is in the same format as the
antiquarian imagination in Australia.
reference list, including the hanging indent.
Cambridge University Press.
Leave a line below the citation.

• In this article, Griffiths reviews …

PURPOSE
• This article examines …
Write a short statement of the author’s viewpoint
• The authors describe ….
or purpose for writing.
• The author’s purpose is to challenge …

SUMMARY
Write a short summary of the theory, research
• The main ideas expressed are …
findings or argument.
• Support for these claims are documented …
• If a study, describe the participants, methods, • Smith has conducted a thorough
results and any relevant data. investigation of …
• Use the structure of the source to help you • The author’s research focuses on …
structure your annotation.

• The author provides a strong theoretical …

EVALUATION
Comment on the usefulness and/or limitations of
the text for your research or the discipline.
• Critique the source for objectivity and
reliability.
• Evaluate the evidence the author has used to
support the ideas
• The writing style considers a range of
audiences …
• Theories are supported by well-known
researchers in this field, such as …
• There is a lack of supporting evidence …
• The main limitation of the study is …

REFLECTION
Comment reflectively on the work, showing how • This is useful for my research topic …
it will fit into your research on your topic. • As the information is up-to-date and from a
reliable source …
• How useful was this source?
• It is relevant to my essay because …
• Did this add to my understanding of this topic?
• In particular, this article will assist ….
• How helpful is this source for others in this
field?

(Adapted from UNE, 2013; Example given in APA 7th Edition)

Sample annotation
The following table contains a sample annotated bibliography.
Refer to the key that lists the necessary parts of the structure, and examine each corresponding
number to see how they can be combined into a paragraph.
Follow this pattern for each source to create an annotated bibliography.

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KEY SAMPLE ANNOTATION

(1) Citation (APA

(1) Trevor, C.O., Lansford, B., & Black, J.W. (2014). Employee turnover
style)
and job performance: Monitoring the influences of salary growth
and promotion. Journal of Armchair Psychology, 113(1), 56-64.
https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.2825
(2) Short statement
of authors’
viewpoint/ purpose
(2) In this article, Trevor et al. review the influences of pay and job
opportunities in respect to job performance, turnover rates and
employee motivation. (3) The authors use data gained through
(3) Short summary
organisational surveys of blue-chip companies in Vancouver, Canada,
of the research
to try to identify the main causes of employee turnover and whether it
is linked to salary growth. Their research focuses on assessing a
range of pay structures such as pay for performance and
(4) Evaluative
organisational reward schemes. (4) The article is useful to my
comment on the
research topic, as Trevor et al. suggest that there are numerous
usefulness to your
reasons for employee turnover and variances in employee motivation
particular topic
and performance. The main limitation of the article is that the survey
and/or limitations
sample was restricted to mid-level management, thus the authors
indicate that further, more extensive, research needs to be
undertaken to develop a more in-depth understanding of employee
(5) Reflective
turnover and job performance. (5) This article will not form the basis
comment showing
of my research; however it will be useful supplementary information
how it will fit into
for my research on pay structures.
your research

(Adapted from UNSW, 2012; Sample given in APA 7th Edition)

Additional sources
Queensland University of Technology. (QUT). (2014). Writing an annotated bibliography. Retrieved
August 21, 2014 from http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/write/annotatedbibliography.jsp
University of New England. (UNE). (2013). Writing an annotated bibliography. Retrieved April 13, 2013
from http://www.une.edu.au/data/assets/pdf_file/0008/11132/WE_Writing-an-annotated-
bibliography.pdf
University of New South Wales. (UNSW). (2012). Annotated bibliography. Retrieved April 15, 2013
from http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/annotated_bib.html

Other helpsheets available

• Quick Guides on In-text Referencing (APA, Australian Harvard, Chicago/Turabian, IEEE and MLA)
• Writing in an Academic Style
• Reading and Writing Critically
• Paraphrasing

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